Ladies&#39; slacks and the like



Aug. 15, 1944. I I NETZKYI 2,355,745

LADYS SLACKS AND THE LIKE Filed Spt. 23, 1942 11v VEN To? Patented Aug. 15, 1944 John Netzky,

Philadelphia,

Pa., assignor to William Netzky, trading as Susquehanna Waist Company, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application September 23, 1942, Serial No. 459,367

1 Claim.

.As presently made ladies slacks comprise a waist band from which front and rear seams extend downwardly to meet in the crotch of the garment, and from this point the inner leg seams extend downwardly on opposite sides to the lower extremities of the legs. Likewise from the waist band the outer side seams extend to said extremities, and normally adjacent one of said last mentioned seams, usually on the left side, the waist band is divided and the garment arranged to open along the seam for a suitable distance to permit it to be donned by the wearer after which it may be closed adjacent the seam by suitable fastening means, such as a mechanical fastener, buttons and buttonholes or the like, the waist band being also provided with like closing means at its overlapping ends. These garments, particularly those designed to sell at a low or moderate price, are not finished with extreme care and in consequence the raw edges of the material adjacent the seams is allowed to extend inwardly a little beyond the stitching uniting the plys; though perhaps somewhat unsightly these raw edges are not particularly objectionable, however, in those parts of the garment which, because of its looseness, do not normally come in contact with the wearers person or where only a single seam is involved, but are distinctly more so in the crotch of the garment where the front and rear seams and the inner leg seams all come together, thus necessarily producing a more or less bunched condition which not only detracts from the appearance of the inside of the garment but sometimes tends to chafe or otherwise annoy the wearer. Moreover in normal use garments of this character tend to wear out more rapidly in the vicinity of this junction point than at any other place because of perspiration and the constant rubbing of the upper part of the leg portions against each other when the wearer is walking or otherwise moving about so that various expedients have been suggested for remedying that condition and for improving the inside appearance of the garment proximate the crotch, but so far as I am aware none of them has been entirely satisfactory for its intended purpose.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide ladies slacks or the like with improved means for shielding the wearer from contact with the raw edges of the seams in the proximity of the crotch; for enhancing the life of the garment by lessening the wear adjacent this point and for improving the finish and appearance of the garment, yet without materially enhancing its cost of production.

Other objects, advantages and novel features of design, construction and arrangement comprehended by the invention are hereafter more particularly pointed out or will be apparent from the following description of a garment constructed in accordance therewith and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

In the said drawing Fig. l is a side View of the garment with a portion of the material nearest the observer broken away to more clearly illustrate interior construction.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of a portion of the garment in the vicinity of the crotch and flattened out into the plane of the paper.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view on line 3-3 in Fig. 2 and Fig. 4. a similar fragmentary sectional view on line 4-4 therein.

Throughout the drawing like characters of reference are used to designate the same parts and the sectional views are respectively taken in the directions indicated by the arrows.

More particularly and in the usual manner the garment comprises a waist band I, seat portion 2 and legs 3, 3', the waist band being divided as at 4 and provided with buttons or other closure means 5, proximate the left hand outer leg seam 6 which is open for a suitable distance below the waist band and arranged with an overlying placket l closeable by buttons 8 or other closure means, so that by opening the waist band and placket the garment may be drawn over the wearer's feet and arranged in proper wearing position by rebuttoning the buttons or closing whatever other seam and waist band fastenings are provided. While in the garment illustrated the placket and waist band openings are arranged on the left side it will of course be understood they may be equally well arranged on the right side or the garment may be provided with a fly front and suitable closures therefor if preferred.

From the front and rear center points of the waist band seams Ill and H respectively extend downwardly to meet each other at a point, generally indicated as l2, in the crotch of the garment; from this point also the inner side seams I3, l3 of the legs 3, 3' extend to the bottoms of the latter each of the several seams being formed by a row of stitches l5 passing through the two adjacent plys of garment material proximate the edges thereof so that the latter freely project into the interior of the garment for, usually, about one-quarter of an inch so as to insure the requisite margin of safety against the stitches tearing out.

In accordance with the invention I dispose on the inside of the garment and above the aforesaid juncture or meeting point l2 a shield, generally designated as S, and which, considered as a whole, is preferably of generally elliptical form when flattened out as in Fig. 2 This shield is desirably made of single ply cotton cloth or other suitable relatively soft fabric and extends symmetrically in all directions from the said point with its minor axis coincident with the seams l3, l3, and comprises two substantially semi-elliptical parts 20 and 2!) of the same size which, to enhance appearance, may be scalloped or other wise ornamented on their curvilinear edges.

After the two parts forming the shield are cut out, conveniently with suitable die, they are superimposed on each other with their straight and curvilinear edges in coincidence and then stitched by stiching 2| to the inwardly projecting garment material adjacent'the seams l3 and I3, this stitching preferably closely approaching or overlying the stitching l5 forming the said seams so that the shield, considered as a whole, is then secured to the garment along the entire length of its minor axis. The upper ply of the shield is then folded vback on itself and tacked to the inwardly projecting material of the seam l3 by transversely extending stitches 22 disposed closely to the adjacent curvilinear edge of the shield and its other or lower ply similarly tacked by transverse stitches 23 to the inwardly extending material of seam l3. Thus except at the points where the stitches 22 and 23 are disposed the shield is unattached to the rest of the garment along its major axis save, of

course, at its center where it is secured by the stitches 2|.

The major portion of the shield is thus free to move relatively to the fabric of the garment and so can readily conform to its movementsas well as to those of the wearer and when the garment is in use the shield depends on opposite sides of the seams l0 and II as best shown in Fig. 1. Moreover, by reason of its shape and method of attachment to the garment, a slight amount of fullness is provided adjacent the marginal portions of the shield, as indicated by shading in the drawing, which still further facilitates relative movement between it and the garment fabric and prevents any tendency to pull the latter out of shape.

The presence of the shield contributes distinctly to the wearing qualities of the garment on each side of the crotch through a sort of cushioning effect which tends to minimize the wear induced by friction between the adjacent inner leg portions and also through the absorptive properties of the shield itself which protects the garment material from the effects of perspiration. In addition the shield affords an attractive finish at the conjunction of the several seams running to the point l2 and of course forms a permanent part of the garment which does not require removal when it is laundered.

While I have described and illustrated one form of the invention herein with considerable particularity, it will be understood that I do not thereby desire or intend to confine myself specifically thereto as various changes and modifications may :be made therein if desired and as will readily occur to those skilled in the art Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention I claim and desire to protect my Letters Patent of the United States:

Ladies slacks comprising a waist band, front and rear seams extending downwardly from the front and rear center points of said waist band and meeting at the crotch of the slacks, inner leg seams extending downwardly from said meeting point on opposite sides thereof, the material of the garment projecting inwardly from each of said seams, and a substantially elliptical single ply fabric shield having its center located at the center of the crotch at the meeting point of all of said seams and having its major and minor axes coincident with the front and rear seams and leg seams respectively and divided transversely into two substantially semi-elliptical pieces of fabric having their straight marginal portions disposed along the minor axis of said elliptical shield and overlapped and stitched together and through-stitched proximate said straight edges to the inwardly projecting material adjacent said inner leg seams, each semielliptical portion of the shield being also attached to the garment by stitching extending through said inwardly projecting material adjacent each front and rear seam at a point remote from said meeting point, whereby the major portion of the shield is free from attachment to the garment in front and in rear of the inner leg seams and tlhereby conformable to the wearers movements independently of the rest of the garment.

JOHN NETZKY. 

